Parshat Eikev 5780
Rabbi Jablinowitz
We read in this week’s parsha the mitzvah of Birchas Hamazon, bentching after eating bread. The pasuk says (Chapter 8, Pasuk 10), V’Achalta V’Savata U’Beirachta. When you eat bread to the point of satiation, then you must bless Hashem. This mitzvah is particularly significant since the pasukim which follow express the dangers of eating to the point of satiation. The pasuk says (Pasuk 12), Pen Tochal V’Savata, Lest you shall eat and become satiated, and then just a couple of pasukim later (Pasuk 14), V’Ram Levavecha V’Shachachta es Hashem Elokecha. Being satiated and successful in physical matters can lead one to abandon Hashem. The natural response of physical and financial success is to give one’s self all the credit for the success and not think that Hashem has any role. How does the mitzvah of Birchas Hamazon stem this tide of self-aggrandizement?
Eating is a very physical act and is one we share in common with animals. Yet we also have a very different function and purpose in eating that we don’t share with animals. The pasuk says in our parsha (Chapter 8, Pasuk 3), Ki Lo Al Ha’Lechem Levado Yichyeh Ha’Adam, Ki Al Kol Motza Pi Hashem Yichyeh Ha’Adam. Man doesn’t live on bread alone, but rather he lives from all which comes from the mouth of Hashem.
The simple reading of this pasuk, as is taught by some of the commentaries, is that we don’t live just by eating, but also by keeping the commands and mitzvos which emanate from the mouth of Hashem. But the pasuk is referring to the eating of the mahn, the Lechem min Ha’Shamayim. The Arizal, therefore, teaches that we learn from this pasuk that even the physical food which we eat, the Lechem min Ha’Aretz, has a connection to Hashem, Who spoke and created the world.
The meaning of this pasuk is that we can’t be sustained just by the physical eating we do; Ki Lo Al Ha’Lechem Levado Yichyeh Ha’Adam. We don’t eat only to fill our stomachs. Ki Al Kol Motza Pi Hashem Yichyeh Ha’Adam; we need to feed our souls as well. And we accomplish this by realizing that the food we eat comes from Hashem and was created by Him.
This is why we say Birchas Hamazon after we eat. If after we eat we bless Hashem and access our connection to Him, this prevents us from the rebellion of V’Ram Levavecha V’Shachachta. The Gemara in Brachos 49A teaches that in the second bracha of Birchas Hamazon we must mention Bris and Torah. It is through our relationship to Hashem and His Torah that we are able to find the holiness even in the physical and get spiritual sustenance in food as well.
The Sfas Emes teaches that the duality of Shamor and Zachor, the positive command of remembering and the negative command of keeping Shabbos and not doing melachah, is found throughout the Torah as well. The same is true regarding the mitzvah of Bircahas Hamazon. The mitzvah of Zachor, of remembering, is in acknowledging Hashem and blessing Him when enjoying the physical world. But there is a Shamor as well; there is also an obligation to not forget. Our success should not lead to haughtiness and a belief that our talent caused our success. As the pasuk says (Chapter 8, Pasuk 17) Kochi V’Otzem Yadi Asa Li es HaChayil Hazeh, my strengths and abilities brought me this great accomplishment. Precisely at this point of physical pleasure, appreciate that all comes from Hashem, receive the spiritual sustenance as well and don’t fall prey to the temptation of forgetting.
Good Shabbos
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